Pair of Empire Period Gilt Bronze Wall Sconces - 3 Light Arms - Paris circa 1810

Pair of Three-Light Mercury-Gilt Bronze Wall Sconces – Empire Period
A very elegant pair of Empire period wall sconces, in finely chased and mercury-gilt bronze, Paris, early 19th century.
Exquisitely crafted, each features three light arms that extend beautifully around a richly ornamented central body.
The design incorporates all the decorative vocabulary characteristic of the Empire style: palmettes, rosettes, scrolls, volutes, finials, and floral motifs are arranged around a large circular section decorated with a radiating pattern. This is highlighted by a substantial frieze of finely chased flowers, dominated in its center by a medallion with a stylized female head.
The three arms, supple and elegantly curved, terminate in wide, finely decorated candle cups and sockets adorned with garlands and floral motifs. The side arms are embellished with small scrolls and rosettes that lighten the composition while maintaining the symmetrical rigor characteristic of the First Empire.

The upper and lower sections are extended by remarkable openwork elements decorated with palmettes, rosettes, and scrolls, whose delicacy gives the wall sconces a particularly slender silhouette.

Remarkable Craftsmanship
The quality of these wall sconces is also revealed in details usually invisible once installed.
For example, the mounting brackets on the back of the arms are themselves crafted and shaped into flowers, a detail that particularly reveals the care taken in their manufacture. Even the technical components have received a truly decorative treatment.
The back, fully visible in the photographs, retains a particularly interesting original construction, with its original fittings, screws, and assembly elements.

On the back of one of the two wall sconces, there is also an old inscription or incised mark, in which one can make out a letter that could be read as a "B" or an "R". This mark remains to be deciphered and could correspond to a workshop mark, an assembly mark, or possibly a signature.
The remarkably well-preserved antique mercury gilding still displays beautiful contrasts between matte and burnished surfaces. It particularly highlights the depth of the chasing and the richness of the various motifs.
The pair is in very good overall condition, with remarkable freshness of the gilding and a beautiful homogeneity between the two sconces. Through their elegance, the exceptionally high quality of their chasing, the richness of their decoration extending even to the hidden details, and the preservation of their original mercury gilding, this pair constitutes a very fine example of Parisian lighting from the Empire period.

Period: Empire, early 19th century
Origin: France, probably Paris
Material: Finely chased and mercury-gilded bronze
Number of lights: Three per sconces
Mark: Old mark incised on the reverse of one of the sconces, to be deciphered
Condition: Very good overall condition, remarkable preservation of the original gilding.

Ref: 1E67114SVM